The Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa, GIABA, on Monday, has said there was need for stiff sanctions to be imposed on corrupt leaders in countries within the region.
GIABA, which is a specialised institution of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, responsible for facilitating the adoption and implementation of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Financing of Terrorism, CFT, strategies in West Africa, further called for the adoption of a new approach in the fight against corruption in the region.
It maintained that existing anti-corruption strategies in most ECOWAS member states “are weak and/or incomprehensive.”
The regional body, through its Director-General, Mr. Edwin Harris Jr, made its position known at the opening ceremony of stakeholders workshop on the outcome of GIABA’s typologies study on money laundering and terrorist financing risks linked to corruption in West Africa, which held in Abuja on Monday.
It said: “Based on our work, we have identified that corruption thrives on three key elements – people, power and resources that can be exploited or the gain to be made.
“We need innovative approaches and interventions that will target each of these key elements in a very comprehensive and collaborative manner.
We need to ensure that only people of integrity have access to public resources; We need to ensure that powers of individuals and offices are checked without constraining their ability to exercise it in a fair and just manner; and, we need to ring-face public resources to ensure that only people with good reasons have access to them, with full regard to due process.”
Continuing, the GIABA boss, whose speech was read by the organization’s Director of Policy & Research, Mr. Muazu Umaru, said: “Corruption is now the number one impediment to the development of our region and the African continent in general.
“While progress is being made by a number of countries, this is still not commensurate with the level of corruption prevailing in our countries.
“Corruption has become a wicked problem for the African continent – it is hydra-headed. Corruption has taken deep roots in our societies and has become systematic, permeating all sectors of the economy despite all the efforts being made to counter it by different governments and other factors.
“On a broader scope, tackling corruption in a sustainable manner will require a global rethink on economic justice. The 21st century economy is not working for the majority – it is an economy of the minority, by the majority for the minority.
“This is the root cause of many social problems in our societies today, including corruption and violent extremism.
“Humanity is at a crossroad between two contending forces – market driven economies infested with corruption as against humanity driven economy filled with compassion.
“Our societies are now divided into three blocks, living side-by-side – those who have, those who don’t have and those who simply don’t know where they belong, but the struggle continues – we live in societies where donkey-driven carts are competing for right of way with the latest models of electric and driverless vehicles.
“Periods of economic hardships are the boom time for corruption and it does not matter how much we fight it.”
The body equally stressed the need for countries within the ECOWAS region to put in place an independent accountability mechanism for law enforcement.
“Such a mechanism should have powers to conduct periodic inspections, receive and review periodic reports and complaints from citizens. Such a body and its membership should have a parliamentary guarantee to insulate it from political or any type of interference.
“The new approaches must also be anchored on transparency, public accountability and effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions against anyone and everyone that is found to be corrupt.
“Let us aim at treating the disease instead of the symptoms. We can do it if we commit to it,” GIABA added.
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